Monk update
Hi Just a short note that I’ve updated the monk variant I introduced last year. The update is intended to make the class more balanced and more interesting across levels – as such you no longer gain access [...]Read on >>
Tarazet the role-playing game, back as free pdf download
Tarazet the Role-playing Game is back as a free pdf download. I can’t tell you the pleasure it gives me to have this game back under development. Every illustration I produce of a spaceship or monster is just mo[...]Read on >>
Sandboxes & Dragons
Here's something that I found interesting as I've been working on the Blitzkrieg Peninsula of my World of Cinder: placing dragons. According to the chart on page 16 of OD&D volume 2, The Underworld & Wilderness [...]Read on >>
Traveller Subsector Coding Hell
I started thinking that maybe I should start looking at automatically drawing communications and trade routes. I started writing some code that calculates the distance between two hexes. And I started wasting hours.[...]Read on >>
Thoughts on Curses
As February draws to a close, I thought that it might be worthwhile to discuss some of my thoughts on the place of curses and how they can be best used in a roleplaying game. In games, curses usually come in one of two f[...]Read on >>
Black and White and Red All Over
Over on Grognardia, James Maliszewski recently made a post lauding the look of Labyrinth Lord. (Ahh, alliteration!) I have to agree with him. Though they lack the slick, glossy look of most RPGs these days, they really a[...]Read on >>
A Tale of Two House Rules
Last week I posted two of the house rules I was going to use for my AD&D/OSRIC game. We played yesterday, and I'll have a full recap later. For now I want to talk about the house rules and how they went. In short, on[...]Read on >>
Structure is Essential to Design
Since beginning Free Spacer, I have found one process more useful than any other; Organisation or Structure. The structure of the work has a much greater effect on my ability to write or design it then I would have ever [...]Read on >>
Choices, Choices on Nerd Sunday
[...]Read on >>
Anatomy of a TPK, Addendum
February 28, 2010 from Continuing Clockwise
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Game Mastery, Play, RPG Hub, advice
I made a key dungeon mastering mistake during last week’s near total party kill in my Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition campaign. I share it here as a warning to those who follow.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m using Harl[...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Game Mastery, Play, RPG Hub, advice
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The ghoul screams at the dead Palidin, “I told you, we need more cowbell!”
So I finally played Pathfinder for the first time ever as a PC. I have GM’d a game for a few months and in that time I outlined one of the incredible abilities of the Palidin class: So in my chance to play, I opt[...]Read on >>
Making Reincarnate Fun in Pathfinder
The cool thing about Pathfinder is that is very easy to integrate older game material into your game. I am playing in a PF game and we are having a discussion with the GM about the reincarnate spell. He wanted to apply t[...]Read on >>
Recipes of the Forgotten Realms
Good Sunday Morning! Here’s an old family recipe. My grandmother used to make it, then my mother and now me. You should be grateful I’m sharing such an old recipe This recipe makes a nice, mild a[...]Read on >>
My birthday’s coming up…
…mom and dad. I know you read the blog, so here’s my request: I’d like a subscription to Dungeons & Dragons Insider. I’ll even provide you with the link here. I don’t even need the 1 ye[...]Read on >>
Sunday Hooks – Dealing With Debt Edition
"'I'll give you this much,' Mr. Reggie said, and pushed a folded sheet of paper across his desk to Sheridan. 'You might get along with this guy. He calls himself Mr. Wizard, but he's a shitbag just like you. Now get out [...]Read on >>
The Revenge of the Harn Weather Table (A ErieCon Tale)
In last monday's game session the party decided not to continue to push west to reach the adventure site. It was obvious they were walking into a warzone and that it would not be a good idea. So they decided to go direct[...]Read on >>
Suffering Souls
"Alas! how feeble is our faith! If a domestic animal, a little dog, falls into the fire, do you delay to draw it out? And see, your parents, benefactors, persons most dear to you, writhe in the flames of Purgatory, and y[...]Read on >>
OwlCon XXIX Recap
It's not often enough that we're able to get out of our regularly scheduled lives and game for a few days straight. But it was time!Last weekend, we attended OwlCon at Rice University, a handsome campus smack in the mid[...]Read on >>
Read an RPG Book in Public Week is here!
Read an RPG Book in Public Week is here! Get "caught" reading your favorite rulebook or supplement in public this week! While doing so, don't forget that there's a Facebook group that you can join, a Twitter hashtag to[...]Read on >>
News in Review for Feb 22 to Feb 28 2010
It was a podcast heavy week at the end of February 2010, and there was some great listening out there if you had the time to take a listen. So grab your headphones, and start punching up the podcasts! Of course, there w[...]Read on >>
World inclusive!
Everybody plays D&D to have fun, but different people get their enjoyment from different aspects of the game. If you’re preparing and running a game for a group of players, understanding player motivations R[...]Read on >>
My One Page Dungeon Entry, Where is Margesh Blackblood?
Despite all my efforts to avoid my writing by washing dishes, snow blowing the four feet of snow we've gotten in the past few days, and scrubbing toilets , I did manage to finish an entry into the one page dungeon contes[...]Read on >>
New Easier to Read Theme
Hi everyone – just a quick note to tell you what you have probably already figured out – I am trial running a new theme. Hopefully this one will be easier to read than the black background one. Please bear [...]Read on >>
Rolemaster Coupon Reminder
Just a quick Sunday reminder--if you haven't check out our special coupon deal with Iron Crown for their Rolemaster Classic line, don't forget to do so!All you need to do is redeem coupon code 300e81aa13 for any Rolemas[...]Read on >>
Which edition do you play?
Tunnels and Trolls currently sits proudly on its 7th edition, with an extra .5 to iron out the creases. But unlike most other games T&T's editions aren't exactly clear cut, with an unofficial mythical 6th edition, tw[...]Read on >>
Read an RPG Book in Public Week Begins Today
Today marks the start of the first Read an RPG Book in Public Week, an effort from WJ Walton of The Escapist to promote and normalize role-playing games in everyday settings. As Walton says: The point is to make the role[...]Read on >>
Armies of Oerth, Part II: Mordenkainen
Using the Field of Glory wargaming rules & Dragon Magazine #37 for inspiration, I shall continue to represent Gary Gygax's Orders of Battle for certain renowned figures from the World of Greyhawk.NOTE: As I explained[...]Read on >>
Return of the Geomorphs – #37
Yeah, so the whole Post Apocalyptic theme ran out on me part way through February, as you probably noticed. And I was completely uninspired for maps to go with that series. So, I welcome you to the return of the Geomorph[...]Read on >>
What the hell? A burger costs 5$?!?!
Come on, choomba! The economy melted down. You’re lucky you’re eating! Prices in 2040 – Columbus, GA Bottle of Coke 3eb Candy Bar 4eb Fast Food Meal 12eb Restaurant Meal 90eb Gallon [...]Read on >>
Earth Delta: Alpha Edition 1.2!
Earth AD -- Alpha Edition 1.2! No, you didn't miss Alpha 1.1. That was the "internal release" where I changed the name. :) This release is 66% larger than the prior release, jumping from 30,000 to 50,000 words,[...]Read on >>
Earth AD: Alpha Edition 1!
Earth AD -- Alpha Edition 1! OK, it's here. I finally said "To hell with it." and just did what every good publisher does -- burn what's on the hard disk and call it a release. Assuming I do this right, there s[...]Read on >>
Trust Me, We’re Not Dead
Not Dead. Really This is what's weird. I haven't posted anything for weeks... but I've been doing more game design than I've done in a long, long, while. Specifically, I've been working on "Earth AD", the post-[...]Read on >>
A new gaming session – Kalesta in Houndsend
Some days ago I signed up with www.penandpapergames.com and posted a request for players. The next day I already got some replies saying that they wanted to play. Yesterday we set up time for playing an adventure and as [...]Read on >>
Fringes of Khorvaire, Session 2
This Friday’s campaign session, continuing off from the start of a new campaign, unintentionally emerged as an experiment in skill challenges. We wrapped up the final leg of challenges in Khyber’s Harvest, battling d[...]Read on >>
The Generic Villain on Phase 1
It’s well known that the Laws of Dramatics state, restate, reiterate, repeat, and otherwise pound repeatedly into our heads with all the strength and half the subtlety of a radioactive metropolis-stomping mons[...]Read on >>
Four Shrunken Heads
Last night was the third session of the 4e game I just started running. A good portion of the session was spent getting acquainted with, cursed by and learning from the four shrunken heads the party removed from an[...]Read on >>
Classic Hexographer Icons
Cartography: Older Schoolery Hexographer is an excellent cartography package for creating hex maps of your campaign. The current version contains an updated set of hex tile icons, but if you’re interested in the ol[...]Read on >>
Stacy’s Mom [Shambles Recap]
Last weekend Psi Phi hosted its once-a-semester Cookies N Characters, where GMs bring a one-shot or two and we invite everyone to join us for cookies and games. It is usually just Psi Phi members, but occasionally we&#[...]Read on >>
Pathfinder
Played Pathfinder today.Loved it.WE now have a new family game for are larger group. Love my witch.More later.[...]Read on >>
D&D Trivia: Why do Trolls have 6+3 HD ?
Ever wondered why certain monsters had X number of hit dice? And in the case of the troll why 6+3 ? Where did this come from?Well the best place to start looking is in the roots of D&D - Chainmail. There is a combina[...]Read on >>
Geomorphs #14 and #15
Today's geomorph is a bit an experiment. My intent was to create an self-contained arena with subterraean cells, an elevator that raises fighters up to the main level, a viewing area for privileged dungeon denizens. Look[...]Read on >>
Curse of the Tyrant’s Lament
Thought that I would wrap up the month of curses, curse-wise, with a greater, kingdom wrecking curse: When King Sandovar II was crowned, having killed his two older brothers and forced his younger sister into a marriage [...]Read on >>
A Dragon and His Minions
During a recent gaming session, I tried something a little new. I decided it was time for my players to meet one of the dragons inhabiting Newham Shire. To play the role of the dragon who was to terrorize the small tow[...]Read on >>
Inspirational Walk
A while back I took a walk down by the Figueroa Bridge to get some inspiration for a group of NPCs presented in the Faces in the Crowd booklet. I love it down there. Music is from Twilight 22 and the jam is called Electr[...]Read on >>
Fantasy Flight Games Event Center
My brother is starting work at Fantasy Flight Games on Monday in their new Event Center, and it’s just come out with its first commercial! It looks awesome, and I wish I lived in Minnesota to visit. Here’s th[...]Read on >>
Federation-Apocalypse Session 102a – The City of the Damned
February 28, 2010 from The Emergence Campaign Logs
Filed under: Background, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log
Elsewhere in the Manifold events continued to unfold:
In the Crusader Kingdoms, the remaining city-sieges had been broken. While it was still too dangerous to farm without the protection of the Knights, regular pa[...] Filed under: Background, RPG, RPG Hub, campaign log
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The Cerulean campaigns (Part 2): Twenty years into the future:
Now that I have finished the last campaign, The Threat of Peace, I can now reveal a few details about how this and my Rebellion-era campaign are connected. But first, why did I decide to go back? Back to Cerulea Well[...]Read on >>
Silver Age Appendix N: The Coming of the Horseclans
Prophecy written in blood!After two hundred years of searching for other immortals, the Undying High Lord Milo Morai has returned the Horseclans to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead them to their destined homeland by [...]Read on >>
Pen and Paper Gaming in the 21st Century by Erik Mona
February 27, 2010 from Temple Lion
Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub, dungeons & dragons, pathfinder
I am proud to announce that Pen & Paper Gaming in the 21st Century, the 2009 GamesU Keynote address by Erik Mona, is now live on our YouTube channel. Whether you missed it at the show or were not able to attend Neonc[...] Filed under: 4e, 4e DD, Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub, dungeons & dragons, pathfinder
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A Different Direction for the OSR
February 27, 2010 from Greyhawk Grognard
Filed under: Design Theory, Legacy D&D, Old School, RPG, RPG Hub
I've been doing a lot of work on Emprise!™, specifically on the Players Manual, and one thing is become more and more clear to me as I continue the work. This is going to be flying in the face of a lot of the common wi[...] Filed under: Design Theory, Legacy D&D, Old School, RPG, RPG Hub
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